Historic Occonechee Speedway Flag Stand
Jan 16, 2020 23:18:19 #
Paul B.
Loc: North Carolina
Picture of new flag stand built in same place where the old one stood back in the day. This was a dirt track in operation in the 50's and 60's. Richard Petty won the last race they had at this track Sept.15th 1968. Fireball Roberts,Junior Johnson and Ned Jarrett are a few of the other great drivers that run raced on this track. its located in Hillsborough N.C. Its been a while since I have posted, hope you enjoy it
Jan 16, 2020 23:30:04 #
Jan 16, 2020 23:40:57 #
Very cool and thanks for posting. I’ve lived within 30 miles of Hillsborough most of my life and never knew about it. It’s not well known that we also used to have a NASCAR track in Raleigh.
Jan 16, 2020 23:57:00 #
Paul B.
Loc: North Carolina
Its been pretty much restored.they rebuilt the ticket office, bathrooms and other buildings. a lot of people walk and run around the old track and its alot of people that walk their dogs.
Jan 17, 2020 10:16:54 #
Still no "soft walls" at this track, those trees seemingly lining the track don't look like they'd absorb much impact if the drivers over drove the cushion! However, it's neat to see that some of the tradition of the Southern short tracks lives on.
Jan 17, 2020 12:37:13 #
Paul B.
Loc: North Carolina
Back when the track was up and running there were no trees on the inside of the track. All of this growed up over the years. The inside of the track was the Orange High School football field complete with goal post and score board. The bleachers were on the front straight away and the Eno river was on the other side of the back straight away. There were no fences except in front of the bleachers and the rest of track had bales of hay around it.Just think if you messed up on the back straight away you might just end up down the bank and in the river.
Jan 17, 2020 15:26:31 #
That is a wonderful piece of history. NASCAR racing has come a long way from those days. I will reserve judgement about the new being better. I think the 1960 era was better.
Jan 17, 2020 18:06:08 #
Excellent shot of the old flag stand; so much history there. Just once I’d like to go back in time and see the likes of Johnson, Roberts, Jarrett, etc. race
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